The National Australia Bank has, with its paper The Productivity Puzzle, entered the productivity debate and its contribution won’t be much liked by conservative economists, columnists and perhaps even sections of the Reserve Bank and Federal Treasury.

The tensions between Tony Abbott and Peter Reith have deep roots in recent Liberal history. The former minister’s eagerness to prevent a return to “the Fraser years”, unencumbered by the party presidency, will be fascinating to watch.

The decision by Steve Bracks to take a lucrative gig with accounting giant KPMG just weeks after resigning as Victorian Premier has once again ignited the debate about conflicts of interest and misuse of privileged information, writes Stephen Mayne.

That the importance of occupational health and safety in the work place relations debate is not seen as a subject of importance by the national press is hardly the fault of Julia Gillard, writes Richard Farmer.